Door-operating mechanism for dump-cars.



J. O. NEIKIRK.

100GB'. OEEATING MEGHANISM FOR DUMP GARS.

APPLIGATIOH FILED JUNE zo, 1907.

Patented Now/.17, 1908.

"mx A TTORNE YS' UNIrnn sri-isles PATENT OFFICE* NEIKIRK, Or'MoIieAN PARK, ILLINOIS, AssIGNCR 'ro NATIONAL DUMF @ART ,ooivrPANY, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION or MAINE.

DOOR-EEATING MECHANISM FOB DUMP-CARS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 17,1909.

To all whom it may concer/1i:

Be .it known that l, Jenn UseAn llnIKIRn, a citizen of the United States, residing at Morgan Park, in the county of @ook and State'offlllinois, have invented certain new .ind-useful Improvements in .Door-Operating lilechanism for lumpars, oit which the following is a speciiication.

My invention relates in general. to dump cars and more particularly to ii Iproved door operating mechanism for dump cars of the well-known National dump car il type, een tain embodiments of which. are covered bv Reissued Patent No. 12,4%?, Til. A. Caswell, i February 6, 1906; Patent No. 'i' 80,7127, Hart & Maltby, January 524, 1905, and Patent No. 8335i?, Poseen, @ctober i6,

In the type or dump cars above referred to, it is desirable that means for guiding the reciprocating shaft of the door operating mechanism should be so constructed as" inot to permit the accumulation of dirt Which would interfere with the opening and closing of the doors. t .is further desirable that the reciprocating shaft of the door operating mechanism should have a path of movement as far as possible from the inner lhinged'edges of the doors, in orderthat the leverage may be such as to minimize the power required to close the doors. lt is imracticable to provide guiding means adgacent the Outer edges of the doors which Will impart tothe reciprocating shaft a vertical movement, owing to the truck frames of the' car preventing a suilicient travel of the shaft vertically to permit the necessary movement' of the dows. While it has heretofore proved impraeicable to provide a shaft having a vertical path of move- .mentfor closing the doors, yet it ispossible;

by means of my improvement, to impart to therupright shait' a travel nearer vertical than has heretofore been possible.

rl`he primary object of my inventiqn is to provide, inadump car of the type referred, to, door operating mechanism so constructed as not 'to permit the accumulation of dirt, thereby insuring the eicient; Opening and closin yof the doors-at all times.

urtl'ier object of my inventionfis toI provide, in a dump ca r ,of the type referred to, door operating mechanism in which the path of movement of the reci .ir'ocating Shaft will be `as far outwardly `from the inner edges of the doors and as nearly vert-ical as possible, thereby securing the closing 0f the doors With the least possible expenditure of power.

A still further object of m invention is to provide, .in a dump car O the type referred to, door actuating mechanism which will be simple in construction, inexpensive to manufacture and eicient in operation,

lily invention Will be more fully described hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings in which the sameis illustrated as embodied in a convenient and practical form, and in which- Figure l is a vertical transverse section through. one half of a car, so much'af the car sti-ucture being only shown as is necessary to disclose my invention; and Fig. 2, an elevationalvieW looking fronr the right in Fig. l.

rlhe `saine reference characters are used tO designate the same parts in the twogures of the drawing.

Reference letter A designates one of the longitudinal center sills constituting the central structure of the sup orting frame.

a designates a plate W ich unites the conter sill A to other center sills, should more than one center sill be employed.

B indicates one of the transverse members of the supporting frame of the car, Such members extending above and being sup.- ported by the center structure. The transverse member B may'conveniently be formed of a T-shaped cross section, so as to provide l) designates a portion of the longitudinal l central portion of the c ar lloor located abovethe center supporting structure'.

E designates a door pivotally connected adjacent its inner edge in any suitable man;`

ner to the center structure, as, for instance, bybraclets A. It will, of course, be underf. stood, theta plurality of doors E vare provided ateach side of the longitudinal center structure of the car, so that practicall the -f e'nti're bottom of the car is composed of ownf vvaI-dly swinging doors.

` F designates a longitudinal reciprocatln shaft extendin -beneath the door L an` adapted throng its reciprocations to Open and close the door by swinging the same about its pivotal support upon the center llo v ing transverse studs H. The studs' H are wheels being fixed. upon the shaft at points' intermediate of the adjacent doors. A track is provided for supporting and guiding the shaft F, such track being composed of parallel members g and g2 spaced and support- Vpreferably provided with sleeves h located ,intermediate-of the members g and g2 ofthe trac The track is supported in an outwardly, andv upwardly inclined position in any suitable manner, as for instance, by extending the outer ends of the members 4 and g2 thereof on opposite sides of the weg Zz of the transverse beam B and securing the same tothe web by suitable fastening devices, as, for instance,'rivets g.

The lower inner end ofthe track is supported at a point below Vthe door and between the longitudinal center of the door and itsv Swinging edge 'by means of braces G which may conveniently be formed integrally ,with the members g and g2 of the track. The upper ends of the braces G are riveted tothe web b of the transverse beam B.` A seat g2 is formed at. the upper end of the track by offsetting the same so that the shaft F may be supported thereon when in position to close the door'. K designates a strip extending above and vparallel with the track so as to retain the shaft F during its-reciprocations in-po'sition for'the teeth of the sprocket wheel to engage the studsof the track.

E. indicates a strip secured to the under side of the door E, the inner'end of which may conveniently form 'part of the hinge for supporting the door, such strip being provided with a seat e adaptedto rest upon the shaft F whenthe door is open. c

Any suitable means (not shown) may be employed for rotating the shaftF and therebyl eifecting its reciprocation to .open and lclose the' door through the engagement of the A sprocket wheel with the track.

v The operation of my improvement is as follows: When the door is in the open posiytion shown lin' Fig. 1,. rotary motion applied `tq the shaft F effects the upward and outward movement thereof to engagement of the teeth'of the sprocket wheel with the studs of the' track.. When the shaft has reached the upper end of its travel, it is supported Vjupon' the seat G2 of the track and thereby'retains the door closed. The door may be opened-by imparting a. reverse rotary motion to the shaft F suiicient to move the same from the seat G2-when it will rotate downwardly by gravity to the lower end of the track, thereby permitting the door toopen and the contents of the car to be dumped.

It will `be observed that my improved track is in effect a rigid sprocket chain with what I-claim as new and which `the sprocket wheel on the shaft engages, thereby effectingv a positive movement of the shaft and at the same timeaffording free passageway between the studs ofthetrack for dirt to pass, thereby avoiding the accumulation of Idirt inI the track which would prevent the proper engagement` of the teeth of the sprocket wheel with the track. It will also be observedthat in improved door operating mechanism tile track is located beneath the outer portion of the door, thereby resulting inl an 'engag 3-y ment of the shaft with the doorat. auch a ydis` tance'from 'the hinge of the door that the v power required to close the door is minimized.-

Havingnow fully described my invention," 'I

desire to secure. by Letters Patent,

l. In a dump car, the combination. with av supporting frame, ef a swinging door piv-' otally supported adjacent its inner edgev upon said supporting frame, a reciprocating shaft extending longitudinally beneath and supporting said door, a sprocket-wheel fixed upon said shaft, and a track for supporting and guiding said shaft fixed to said supporting frame, said track comprisi'f'fg spaced members upon which the shaft as and studs supported between lthe meine with which said sprocket wheel engages.l

2. In a dump car7 the combination with a supporting frame, of a swinging door piv otally supported adjacent its 'inner edge upon said supporting frame,

a reciprocating Y shaft extending longitudinally beneathand supporting said door, a sprocketwheel fixed' upon said shaft, a track for supporting land gluiding said shaft fixed to said supporting ame, sald track comprising parallel spaced members having a downwardly open spacebetween them, and studs supported between said members and spaced apart distances' corresponding tothe distances between the teeth of such sprocket wheel. i

3. .In adump car, thecombination with'a supporting frame, of a swinging door vpivotally supported adjacent its inner edge upon said frame, a reciprocating shaft ex" tending longitudinallybeneath and support. 115

ing said door, a sprocket wheelxed upon said shaft, an upwardlyv and outwardlyin'- clined track for supporting and guiding said shaft, said track comprising spaced memf bers upon whlch theshaft rests andsstuds` supported between said memberswith whichv said sprocket wheel engages, and -means for supporting said track with the lower inner l y end thereof between the longitudinal' center of said door alnd the swinging edge thereof 125 y 4. In a dump car, the combination with aI supportingframe, of a swinging'do pivotally supported adjacent its inner edge upon said frame, a reciprocating shaft extending. longitudinally beneath and supportl130 .'29 vupon said shaft, a trackv for supporting and 'itiiind sleeves surroundlng said studs intering lsaid door, a sprocketmwheel-x'ed upon slid sha an upwardly and loutwardly inclined track for supporting and guiding said extendinglon tudially beneath and supportingsaid oor, a. sprocket wheel fixed n'aiding said: shaft xed tofsaid supporting frame, said track comprising spaced members and studssupported between the meni-v bers with whichsaid sprocket wheel engages,

mediate vof -the members of Vsaid track withwhich the teeth of said sprocket wheel conftct. "6I, In a dump car, the combination with a ys'nlpp'ortin'g frame, of a swinging door pivotal y `supported adjacent its inner edge upon said supporting frame, a reciprocating shaft Lextendln'g longitudinally beneath' and supporting saidpdoor; a sprocket'wheel fixed $5" upon said shaft, and a track for supporting andguiding said shaft fixed to said supporting' frame, said track comprising spaced members" upon which the shaft rests and studs sup orted between the members with 4,0 lwhich said s rocket wheel engages, said track being offset to form a' sea-t at itsl upper and outer end to su port said shaft when in position to close said3 door. y 4 f 7; Inl a dump car, thecombinati'on with a ssup1porting frame, of a swinging door piY- ota y' supportedV adjacent its lnner edge upon said supporting frame, a reciprocating shaft extendm longitudinally beneath and supporting sai door, a sprocket wheel fixed upon said. shaft, a track for supporting and guiding Isaid shaft fixed to said ,supporting frame, said track comprising spaced memj bers and studs supported between the mem- '1 bers'with which said sprocket wheel engages,

dsh'aft, said track com risin'g'spaced' members shaft, said traclromprising parallel spaced and; a guidestrip secured ,beneath .said door 'and having a seat formed therein to rest upon .said shaft when said door is op'en.

8. In a dump car, the combination w'ith a supporting frame, of a swinging door pivot- .ally supported adjacent its inner edge upon said frame, areciprocating shaft extendino longitudinally beneah'and supporting said door, a sprocket wh'e 1 fixed upon said shaft,

a' track for supporting and guidingsaid members 'and studs between said members,

sleeves surrounding said studs with which the teeth ofsaid sprocket wheel engage; ay hanger depending from the supporting frame formed integrally with said track and supporting the ylowerinner end thereof beL tween the longitudinal center of said door and its'swinging edge, said track having a seat at its upper land outer end to support said shaft when the door is closed, and a Guide strip secured beneath said door and iaving a seat formed therein to rest upon vsaid shaft when the door is open.

9. A railway car having a flat floor, comrising longitudinally arranged dumping oors anda supporting framework, a lreciprocating shaft supported by the framework of the car beneath the doors and engaging the doors between their' longitudinal centers' and outer swnging edges for supporting and operating the doors, upwardly and .outwardly inclined sprocket tracks comprising spaced members u'pon which the shaft is carried'and studs between said members, and sprocket wheels on the shaft engaging the tracks. l i

10. A a'ailway car having a flat floor comprising longitudinally arranged dumping' doors and a supporting framework, areciprocating shaft supported by the framework 95 of the car beneath the doors and engaging C the doors'between their longitudinal centers and outer swinging edges for supporting and operating the doors, upwardly and outwardly inclined tracks upon which the shaft isvcarried, sprocket wheels on the shaft engaging the trackand means for keeping the sha-ft 1n engagement with the tracks.

JOHN OSCAR NEIKIRK.

Witnesses:

Gro. L. l/VILKINSON, ANNIE C. COURTENAY.- 

